More Infant Care Coming to Bethesda's Children in the Shoe

Mary Alice, the Director at The Children in the Shoe at 4401 East West Highway, is busy! She spent last week filling a couple of spots in her current infant room. At the same time, they are preparing to open another infant room in November. A few of their quality indicators include the 3:1 ratio and a primary care philosophy and system. This is a waitlist you'll want to be on if you are living or working in Bethesda, MD.

An Open House with Openings

There are a couple of openings in the early childhood program (ages 3-6) at Bethesda's Washington Waldorf School. Is it right for your family? Find out at their open house tomorrow, the 23rd, from 10AM - noon. Lezlie would appreciate an RSVP!

Ca-ching!

So – did you get the memo? You’re childcare fees are going up. Of course they are. You’ve run a business – you’re fiscally responsible. You can (grudgingly) see that it would actually be irresponsible if your center didn’t raise prices every year. Seriously, their costs are going up just like everyone else’s. But – here’s the thing. It is totally responsible for you to ask – how do you plan to spend this increase? Is this going toward a cost of living or merit pay increase for teachers? Are we getting new playground equipment? Do you anticipate the heating bill to triple this year? All of these are reasonable answers. Lots of other answers are reasonable, too. My point is, you should ask and they (administration, the parent board, the powers-at-be) should be fully prepared to answer – what’s the plan for the increase in fees? You are going to pay a whole lot for high quality childcare – you might as well confirm that it is worth it. You’ll sleep better and resent less, I promise.

Calling 3s and 4s!

Relatively speaking, parents of 3s and 4s have it easier than everyone looking for infant and toddler care. But who cares about relativity when it is your 3 or 4 year old needing fabulous, full-time care? Turns out, right now is an especially good time to be looking for care. Why? Kindergarten. Not for you, obviously. But enrollment at most centers works like dominos. Many kids are heading to kindergarten and I’ve found that lots of them leave early/mid August for a trip to the beach or their grandparents. Their mass departure tips the dominos and, voila, space. Centers’ waitlists are longest, typically, in direct proportion to age: the infant room waitlist is the longest and the room that graduates to Kindergarten is the shortest. Centers that are strictly organized by age rather than embracing a multi-age format (a mistake in my mind – but another topic for another day) have a hard time filling spaces from within. Not fun for the center director, but makes for an ideal time for you to find a spot for your adorable 3 or 4 year old.

Center Open House in Herndon - TODAY!

Did you know that we are approaching the ever popular and exhausting school open house season? I scanned my favorite online school open house list, Washington Family, this morning and found that Happy Hearts Children’s Center is having an open house today from 10 – 12PM. It’s a new center in Herndon and I’ve not visited yet – but they have capacity for 80 young children, birth to 5. Of course, most centers schedule visits regularly. An open house is nice because you will have the full attention of the administrative and teaching staff. Plus, the Saturday date is convenient for many of us. Enjoy and let us know what you think!

It's all in the family

OK – first things first – I love in-home care for infants and toddlers so much that I am serving on the board of Infant Toddler Family Day Care. Both of my girls spent their first year or so with family childcare provider, Genie Henson. In fact, because of all sorts of complicated toddler germ issues, Ellie (my sweet second baby) turned up at Genie’s at all of two weeks old! High quality family child care is a legitimate option that you should consider if you are in the need of full time care for your infant or toddler. My favorite aspect is the continuity of care – just one person for your lump of love to attach themselves to – and that is a good thing. Feel good about whatever choice you make – this is one of many ways to get it right for you.